A wave pounds Lahinch in Co Clare during the 2014 storms. Photo: PAFile photo: This image obtained from NASA shows Tropical Storm Olaf (C) in the eastern Pacific far from land and could become a hurricane on October 18, 2015. Photo: AFP/Getty Images

A Status Orange weather warning has been issued with high winds and heavy rain expected as Storm Abigail lands tomorrow morning.

The Status Orange alert is being issued for coastal areas of the northwest of the country.

A Status Yellow alert is in effect for the whole country today.

Winds could gust up to 120kms an hour in those northwestern county coastal locals, according to. Met Eireann's Siobhan Ryan. The wind warning is to come into effect at 6am tomorrow.

The wind warning is in effect for Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo and Sligo.

Winds will be strongest near coastal areas, peaking Thursday evening into early Thursday night.

Today will be a generally cloudy day with outbreaks of heavy rain. It will be generally mild but will become cooler and fresher as the rain clears later.

Tomorrow will start largely dry to start but rain on the west coast early on will extend eastwards. This rain will quickly become widespread and heavy throughout the country.

A yellow weather warning will be in place for the rest of the country, with lower level wind warnings.

Friday looks like could be a nasty day, according to Met Eireann.

Temperatures will drop significantly with afternoon highs of 7 to 9 degrees. It will feel significantly colder than recent days.

There is also the threat of hail or thunder in the west and northwest. This hail could turn to snow on the highest peaks in Donegal.

The first storm to be named by the public in a voting process is expected to land by tomorrow and will bring wind, rain and travel delays to parts of the country.

The West of Ireland will be hit with rain and howling winds from tomorrow morning to late afternoon, according to AccuWeather.

Gusty showers and high winds are expected as Met Eireann has issued a Status Yellow weather alert for small craft today. However, further weather updates are expected to be issued later on today in relation to the storm.

Even with showers in the forecast, abnormal warmth will continue across Ireland with high temperatures ranging from 12-16 C.

Today will be a very cloudy day with outbreaks of heavy rain, becoming clearer with just scattered showers later.

This evening and early tonight there'll be scattered showers, but it'll become largely dry overnight with clear spells.

Storm Abigail is expected to bring heavy winds to the north of the country.

Met Eireann are currently evaluating the storm and expected to update their warnings within the next hour.

Last month the Met Office and Met Eireann announced a pilot project to name storms that may be blowing this way this autumn and winter.

They received thousands of responses by email, through the Met Office Facebook pages and @metoffice on Twitter.